1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to packaging materials for pharmaceutical preparations. More particularly, this invention relates to dispensing containers for multi-use ophthalmic liquids.
2. Description of Related Art
Ophthalmic liquids are currently dispensed into the eye using a standard polyethylene bottle, a dispensing tip and cap. The standard ophthalmic bottle, a readily available polyethylene bottle, has a major shortcoming in that it is subject to significant loss of water over time. This evaporation increases the concentration of the solution making it prematurely useless because the solution becomes too concentrated for ophthalmic use before the useful life of the active materials has elapsed. This is particularly problematic for ophthalmic solutions since they tend to have relatively small volumes, which make the samples even more susceptible to evaporation due to the greater surface area to volume ratio. This significant reduction in shelf life causes significant waste of the ophthalmic solution at significant cost to the manufacturer or possibly the patient. Another shortcoming of the current packaging is that the polyethylene is not as pliable as would be desired, giving less than optimal control of the drop size.